On October 12, 1897, he entered the noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), which then was located in Bleijenbeek (Netherlands) due to the expulsion of the Jesuits during the Kulturkampf of the German Reich.
In 1842 he entered the noviciate of the Oblates at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, and was immediately active in that organization.